Ricardo "Rick" Antonio Perez

Rick, as he was affectionately called, was born on July 8, 1955 to Odilia Hansell Perez and Nicolas Perez in Queens, New York. He treasured his childhood memories of growing up in Brooklyn. He would often reminisce about the East New York summers he spent with his five younger siblings and neighborhood friends playing favorites like Skelly, Hide-and-Seek, Coco-Levio, Johnny-on-the-Pony and Tag. However, in his words, “the absolute king of them all was softball.” It was not uncommon for him to play softball from early morning until it was too dark to see the ball. His interests would grow to include comics, drawing, reading, music, cars, television, and movies.

Over the years Rick had many fascinating experiences, notable accomplishments, and made an impression on many people.

Rick loved family. He became a father in 1974 to an adorable and inquisitive daughter named Nina. A couple of years later he would meet Liz, the love of his life. He was immediately smitten and the two married in 1979. In 1984 they moved to Laurelton and welcomed a pretty awesome daughter named Christine.

He fulfilled his biggest dream when he became a NYC Transit cop in the fall of 1981. In 1988 he was promoted to detective. Following the merger of 1995, Transit was obsolete, and Rick was now one of NYC’s Finest - an NYPD detective. He would spend the remainder of his career working robberies in the 75th Precinct. His most memorable moments would be working at Ground Zero and the assignments that followed 9/11. In 2001 he retired from the NYPD and the following year moved to Hoschton, GA.

Just when you may have expected him to wind down and settle into being a retired grandfather, he stumbled upon a new and exciting venture. In 2012 Rick booked his first role as a precision driver in the movie Identity Theft. This discovery of a new career path led him to be one of the founding members of Precision Drivers Unlimited – A network of drivers that sought to fill the void in Atlanta’s local television/film crew pool. PDU was the perfect culmination of his interests. He was able to drive… in movies… as part of a crew!

These highlights of a life well lived, don’t even touch on the many relationships with family, friends and coworkers that he developed and nurtured; his sarcastic humor; his deep well of random knowledge; or the Sunday Morning Classics that became the soundtrack of his life.

Rick was preceded in death by his father Nicolas. He is survived by his wife Elizabeth; mother, Odilia; daughters, Nina (Donny) and Christine; grand-children, Kali, Elijah, Jack and Ella; siblings, Reinaldo, Nicolas, Gina, Angela and Tina; and a host of nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins and in-laws.

We encourage you to share your fond memories, expressions of sympathy and favorite photos using the links below. Details on Rick's upcoming memorial services will follow shortly.